by Crist, J. D.
Emily looked back at the bed and felt her heartbreak as Marley was not lying on the covers.
Emily quickly made her way out of the house and to the clinic. Isabelle was not at the counter, but Emily could hear voices coming out of the surgery room. Emily made her way down the short hallway and into the room. Marley laid on the table with a white bandage wrapped around his shoulders. Emily stood still and finally saw that his chest was rising and falling.
"How is he?" Emily asked.
Doc, Isabelle, and Shawn all turned towards her. Shawn had changed his shirt, and the bloody one was now lying on the floor.
"As far as I can tell, it missed all of his vital organs," Doc began. "I stitched him up as best I could, but we just have to wait."
"What does that mean?" Emily began to cry as she spoke.
"Doc's not a vet," Shawn explained as he stepped forward. "He gave Marley a fighting chance. It's up to him what happens now." Shawn stood in front of her as he finished talking.
"I can't do this without him," Emily cried.
Shawn stepped forward and pulled Emily close. Shawn held Emily and allowed her to break down. After a few moments had passed, he loosened his grip on her.
"You should go sit with him," Shawn whispered to her. Emily pulled back and dried her face. "He needs to know that you want him to fight."
Emily nodded and made her way over to Marley. Doc moved a chair closer to the operating table. Emily made her way towards it and sat down next to Marley. His eyes were closed, and she couldn't help but miss them looking back at her. Emily reached up and began to run her hand through his fur.
"You got this, baby boy," Emily whispered to him. "You are strong, and that's no more than a bug bite." Emily laid her head down on the table next to him. "I need you to fight for me. I need you." Emily continued to run her hand over his fur and listen to him breathe. Emily laid this way for a long time and eventually drifted to sleep.
Emily woke suddenly next to Marley, her arm still draped over him. His breathing seemed stronger. Emily began to run her hand through his fur once more.
Thump, thump, thump…
Emily turned her head and saw Marley's tail rising and falling against the table. Emily turned and couldn't help but smile to see those big brown eyes staring back at her.
"There you are, sleepyhead." Emily smiled at him as she petted his head.
"How is our patient this morning?" Doc asked as he entered the room.
"He's awake," Emily smiled at him.
"He is a strong one," Doc remarked as he walked towards Marley. "We need to change his bandage. I'll lift him if you want to unwrap the one he has on."
"Whatever he needs," Emily replied.
Doc slowly lifted Marley's top half, and Marley's tail started to wag once more. Emily undid the faster on the bandage and unwrapped it. Once she finished, Doc laid Marley gently back down on the table. Doc pulled off the final square bandage to reveal the stitches under it. Emily watched as Doc cleaned the stitches and placed a new square bandage.
"Ready to wrap him back up?" Doc asked.
Emily nodded, and Doc lifted Marley once more. Emily rewrapped the bandage to hold it in place and secured it once more. Once Marley was lying back on the table, Emily returned to sit next to him.
"Does this mean he's going to be okay?" Emily asked.
"It's a good sign. I only worry about if he will regain his mobility. If he can't walk, he won't have much of a life."
"So, we need to know if he can move his legs?" Emily questioned.
"Yes, but not too much, or he could pull his stitches."
"If he can move, he is going to try to get up when I leave." Emily looked down at Marley as she spoke.
"I am afraid of that. I've been researching all night on dog reflexes. I think I can test them, but I need your help to keep him calm while I do it. Once we're done, I can give him something to help him sleep."
Emily stood and traded spots with Doc and began to pet Marley. She watched as Doc started to test each of Marley's legs for a reflex much like he tested Hope's reflexes. Emily tried to contain her excitement as each of her legs responded.
"I may not be a veterinarian, but I expect this guy to make a full recovery," Doc smiled. "He will need to be on bed rest for the next couple of weeks until the stitches come out."
"I will make sure he does," Emily smiled.
She watched as Doc injected a medication into the IV, and Marley slowly fell asleep.
"Did you say morning?" Emily asked, realizing how Doc had greeted her.
"Yes, you stayed here all night."
"Hope..." Emily began.
"Shawn picked her up from Julia's and took her home. I saw him walking down the road this morning with her in her carrier. It was quite a sight to see if I say so myself." Doc laughed as he spoke.
"I bet it was," Emily smiled. "How long will he be asleep for?"
"Hours," Doc replied. "I can radio you when he starts to wake up if you want."
"That would be great, Doc."
"I'll ask Isabelle to keep an eye on him, and I'll come to do the exams on the new people."
"I'll see you there." Emily ran her hand through Marley's fur one more time and then headed outside.
The sunlight hurt her eyes for a moment as she stepped out, but she quickly adjusted. Emily reached for the walkie on her waist to discover that it was gone. She remembered that it was still her backpack back at her house. Emily turned and quickly made her way home. She found the bag on the floor in the bathroom and pulled out the walkie.
"Shawn, I have an urgent need to see the monkey on your back," Emily spoke into it.
"And she has one to see you," Shawn laughed in reply. "I'll meet you at the base of the stairs."
"Roger that," Emily replied.
She clipped the walkie on her waist and quickly made her way outside and up the main street. She felt herself break out into a run as she spotted Shawn with Hope in his arms.
"There's your mommy." Shawn comforted Hope as Emily ran up and took Hope into her arms.
"Thank you for taking care of her," Emily said to Shawn.
"It was my honor," Shawn smiled back at her. Shawn continued to smile as Emily held Hope, and Hope laughed. "We have some scared people on the other side of this wall," Shawn spoke. "We have been making sure they get food and the supplies they needed, but they are waiting to talk to you."
"Well, I guess I better get to work." Emily held Hope on her hip and walked through the opening in the inner gate. The group from the night before all stood staring at her.
"I'm sorry for the delay," Emily began.
"Normally, I would have given my big speech, shown you all the town, and welcomed you to stay in my home for the night. However, circumstances threw things a little off schedule."
"Is the puppy going to be okay?" the little blonde girl asked again.
"He is," Emily smiled back at her. "He's going to need to rest for a few weeks, but he will be back to chasing chickens soon."
"Chickens?" a tall, slender man asked.
"Yes, chickens." Emily smiled.
She listened to herself as she explained about Robert and Sanctuary. She continued with all of the resources they had and how the town worked. She then explained that they would need to let Doc examine them though she expected they would know by now if any of them were sick. Doc began to take them into the exam room and gave each new person a clean bill of health after about half an hour.
Emily then invited them all in and began her tour through town. She watched as each of them gasped at the sights and the resources. She skipped explaining that Jessica would help them with fresh clothes as she could see that they had already received them. Instead, she led them all to her home and invited them inside.
"Please take a moment to relax and think about everything," Emily told them all. "I know it's a lot to take in. The children are welcome to watch the television if the adults need time to talk. I'll be here if you have any questions."
"Why do you let people in?" a blonde woman asked. "Especially after those guys last night. Why would you risk it?"
Emily looked down at Hope as she spoke.
"If I hadn't opened the gates to strangers, then neither of us would be here." With that, Emily turned and headed to the kitchen.
"I'm proud that you handled that so well with everything that's happened," Shawn said to her as she sat down.
"Someone reminded me that no matter what, I have to lead," Emily looked him in the eye as she spoke.
"Well, whoever that was sounds smart to me. He probably deserves a raise or something," Shawn grinned back at her.
"I'll take it under advisement," Emily grinned back.
"So, Marley is going to be okay?" Shawn asked.
"Doc says all signs point to yes. He woke up this morning and was wagging his tail. Doc tested his reflex and got a response on each leg. He says Marley will need to be on bed rest for a few weeks but should make a full recovery."
"That dog will rest if I have to strap him to my back to make him be still."
"Now that I would like to see," Emily laughed.
"Hey, I make the baby carrier look good," Shawn joked back.
"You were rocking it," Emily laughed.
"Have you eaten anything today?" Shawn asked with a look of knowing on his face.
"No, I've been a little busy," Emily replied.
"Well, prepare to watch me rock making a sandwich."
"Should we offer some to the new group?" Emily couldn't help but feel lousy eating while they were still in the living room talking.
"I'll make you one and put everything in the dining room for them," Shawn replied as he walked towards the cabinets.
A few minutes later, Shawn slid a plate in front of Emily with a sandwich and some apple sauce.
"Thanks," Emily said as she picked up the sandwich.
Shawn grinned and started to carry things into the dining room. After a couple of trips, she heard Shawn telling the group in the living room that the food was in the dining room. Shawn then returned as Emily was starting on the apple sauce.
"I'm going to feed the monkey and try to lay her down. She threw a fit last night that Marley wasn't in the room."
"Thank you for helping with her. I feel awful that I completely spaced and fell asleep at the clinic."
"This is what family does," Shawn smiled.
"Besides, who will she be safer with than the head of security?"
Shawn set to work feeding Hope. Emily couldn't help but smile as she watched the big man holding the tiny baby and feed her. Once Hope was done eating, Shawn headed out of the kitchen to take Hope upstairs.
"If you are ready, she will meet you all in the dining room in just a few minutes," Emily heard Shawn say from the living room.
The group must have made their decision on if they wanted to stay or not. Emily finished eating and put her plate in the sink. She then headed to the study and grabbed the ledgers to take in with her. As Emily walked back out, Shawn was just reaching the bottom of the stairs.
"That was fast," Emily remarked.
"She didn't sleep much last night, so she passed right out. You ready for this?"
"It feels strange not to have them stay with me for a day before reaching this point."
"They seem like good folks," Shawn smiled.
"If it helps, I like them."
"It does," Emily grinned.
With that, she turned and headed into the dining room. The new group was sitting around the table. Some of them had sandwiches.
"We've decided that we are not going back out there," the blonde woman spoke.
"I understand," Emily smiled.
"Your friends explained a lot last night, and you confirmed everything today," a brown-haired man spoke.
"I think we are all forgetting to say the most important thing," a gray-haired man chimed in. "Thank you for last night. You didn't know us yet. You risked everything to save us."
Emily looked around at the group and could see they all agreed with the man.
"When you all took the walkie and agreed to come, I agreed to keep you safe," Emily began.
"Still, there's not many people like you, especially in this world." The gray-haired man smiled at her. "So, what's the next step to us joining your family here?"
"First, you all sign the census. After that, I will need to know each of your skills to assign you a job, and then I will give you each a place to live based on your family size."
"I'm ready to sign!" the blonde girl smiled.
Emily grabbed the census ledger and handed it to the little girl to pass around the table. She watched as each of them signed, and the ledger made its way back to her. Emily then explained that children were required to go to school and how the credit system worked. She then went around the table and asked them what they did before the flash and what skills they felt they were strong in.
After about twenty minutes, everyone was assigned a job, and Emily was excited to have filled a new position. One of the women named Kathy, was a scientist that worked for the CDC. Emily was sure that Doc would appreciate the help with his project. Emily assigned them a house and prepared to set out just as Hope made it clear that she was awake.
"You get started," Shawn said as Emily turned to head for the stairs. "We will catch up with you."
"Alright, let me show you guys where you will be living." Emily opened the front door and headed outside.
"We will give you guys a couple of days to settle into your homes and basic jobs. Then Shawn will let you each know when your shift on the wall will be. If for some reason you are unable to take your shift, you will need to talk to either him or myself."
Emily made her way down the street and started showing each family to their home. There were only two single women in the group, and they seemed pleased with the apartments they were assigned.
Emily had just left the apartments when she spotted Shawn walking towards her with Hope. Hope was changed into a fresh outfit, so Emily could only assume a slight complication with the diaper change.
"Everything go okay?" Emily smiled at him.
"She just wanted to prove to me that she was in charge, just like her mother," Shawn laughed as he held Hope in his arms.
"Emily, Marley is beginning to wake up." Doc's voice came over the walkie.
"On my way," Emily responded. "Do you want to see Marley?" Emily asked Hope.
Shawn had said that Hope was confused by not having Marley around, and Emily prayed that seeing him may help.
"Yes, she does!" Shawn replied for Hope. "I would like to see him too, if that's okay?"
"Of course," Emily grinned.
The three of them turned and headed towards the clinic. Isabelle was in the exam room when they entered, and Emily knew that she was with Derick. Emily walked quickly past the door and into the surgery room, where Marley was still resting. Hope began to coo and clap as they entered, and Marley's tail began to thump against the table. They walked closer and stood in front of Marley.
"Did you miss Hope?" Emily asked as she petted Marley on the head.
Marley’s tail continued to hit his tail against the table. Shawn held Hope closer, and Hope began to touch Marley's nose. Marley began to move his legs, and Emily could tell he would try to stand up.
"You have to lay down." Marley looked up at Emily with confusion and hurt in his eyes.
"You have to rest." Emily felt like she was pleaded with him to stay on the table.
"Is the patient ignoring doctor's order," Doc grinned as he walked in.
"I think the table might be getting to him," Emily replied as she continued petting Marley.
"I thought it might," Doc grinned. "Shawn, would you mind helping me move him to the recovery room?"
"Sure thing, Doc," Shawn said as he handed Hope to Emily. Emily watched as Shawn picked up Marley and carried him to the room that Emily woke up in after her surgery.
"We will have to let him
go for a couple of short walks starting tomorrow," Doc explained as Shawn set Marley down on the bed. "We will just have to be extra careful to make sure he moves slow and no jumping."
"Can we take him home tomorrow?" Emily asked.
"I want to keep him here a few more days to be safe, but after that, yes."
